The full-scale attack on Ukraine set the wheels in motion in Russia’s other European neighbours. Finland is in the process of building several hundred kilometers of barbed wire fencing. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania establish the “Baltic Defense Line”. Poland will secure around 700 kilometers of the border in the plan, which has been named “The Eastern Shield”. Things also happen at the Storskog border crossing in Eastern Finnmark. – In light of a demanding security policy situation, combined with ongoing technological development, various measures have been initiated to strengthen and modernize Norway’s border control towards Russia. Emergency preparedness director Tone Vangen in the Norwegian Police Directorate tells news. Refugees as weapons In 2023, over 1,000 migrants arrived at the Finnish border from Russia. The authorities claim that Russia is behind it as a reaction to Finland joining NATO. The country ended up closing the border and this summer introduced a new law to stop the migrants from entering the country. Refugees arrived at the Raja-Jooseppi border crossing in Lapland in northern Finland last November. Photo: EMMI KORHONEN / AFP But they have also started building a four-metre high barbed wire fence along 200 kilometers of the southern part of the border with Russia. – A physical fence is necessary in a situation where illegal border crossings are instrumentalized and extensive, writes the Finnish border guard in an e-mail to news. The border fence will also make Finland less dependent on the Russian border control, they stress. Parts of the fence in Finland have already been built. Like here in Imatra in Sõdra Karelia in Finland. Here were members of the Finnish border guard with a dog at the fence in October last year. Photo: JUSSI NUKARI / AFP It is, among other things, the situation in Finland that has caused the Norwegian authorities to react, says Vangen in the Directorate of Police. Testing drones – Experiences from, among others, Finland, where groups of migrants have tried to illegally cross the border from Russia, have actualized the need for immediate measures, especially in connection with the transition points, says the director of emergency preparedness. In 2015, Norway experienced a similar incident when several thousand migrants made their way to the Norwegian border and the border crossing at Storskog from the Russian side. – At the Storskog border crossing point, we are therefore planning measures to improve security around the facility, says Vangen. The aim is to be better prepared if you experience a new wave of migrants from Russia. – In addition to this, there is ongoing adaptation and modernization with, among other things, trial projects using drones and other aids in the border surveillance itself, she continues. However, Vangen emphasizes that there have been few migrants who have arrived in Norway and that the police are in close dialogue with the neighboring countries in the region. Following the plan in Finnmark The Norwegian Police Directorate has also been responsible for following up on the measures that the Finnish authorities have implemented at the border. – The investigation was submitted on 30 June this year, but is exempt from public disclosure, writes Andreas Bjørklund, communications advisor at the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness, in an email to news. Bjørklund says he cannot provide any further information. The Norwegian Police Directorate writes in an e-mail to news that they do not wish to make any further comments in this case either. In November 2015, migrants crossed the border to Norway from Russia at Storskog. The migrants could not cross the border on foot and therefore used bicycles. Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Afp It is the police who are responsible for controlling Norway’s almost 200 kilometer long border with Russia. But for that they also get support from the Army, from the hunter battalion GSV based in the border municipality of Sør-Varanger. – Since 2016, we have strengthened the Hunter Battalion quite significantly, says Colonel Jørn Qviller, head of Finnmark National Defence, to news. A new company has been created, the Hunting Company, there are significantly more conscripts and employees and new barracks and infrastructure have been built. Observer Jørn Qviller says that the Norwegian Armed Forces are still being strengthened in Northern Norway, but that the plans that are being followed were laid before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Photo: Jonas Løken Estenstad / news The strengthening took place after Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian Krym peninsula and the Russian-backed uprising in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. – Due to the security situation in Europe and developments in Russia, it was decided early on to strengthen the Hunter Battalion GSV. Since 2022, we have really only followed the plan, says Qviller. Bridge blasting and minefields In 2018, Finnmark land defense was also restored. It will be the starting point for the new Finnmark brigade, which will be fully operational in 2036. Finnmark land defense will also be strengthened with new battalions, engineering and intelligence companies and combat air defense. Jørn Qviller says that the plans that are being laid are about how to defend Finnmark and Northern Norway against a limited attack: – That is what determines the strengthening of the Defense Forces in Finnmark. Construction activity at Porsangmoen camp in Finnmark, 24 January 2024, in connection with the upgrading of Finnmark land defence. Photo: Stian Strøm The new defense plans in the Baltic states and Poland include blocking measures and obstacles in the terrain to prevent an invasion force from advancing. Similar measures are also being introduced in Norway. – Strengthening that ability and opportunities in Finnmark is important going forward. But we have some of this in place today, says Qviller. In the national planning system for war, there are “anti-mobility measures” to prevent the enemy from advancing quickly, says the colonel. – There may be the blowing up of bridges and roads and the deployment of minefields. So that’s the kind of planning and preparation we do. So-called dragon’s teeth, concrete blocks that are supposed to make it difficult to advance in the terrain, were on display in Karsava in Latvia in August. Photo: GINTS IVUSKANS / AFP The Baltic barrier line and Poland’s Eastern Shield are based on experiences from the Ukraine war. Qviller says that the measures introduced in Finnmark have not changed significantly since 2022. But they “follow what is happening”: – Military development takes its course with technology and tactics and techniques. We follow as closely as possible, and adapt based on the scenarios we envision, and the terrain we will be operating in, he emphasizes. Interested in abroad? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast: Published 20.09.2024, at 15.51 Updated 20.09.2024, at 16.58
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Norway introduces “immediate measures” at the border with Russia – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
